Advocacy groups in Indonesia have condemned an attack on the parents of human rights lawyer Veronica Yoman, who speaks out for West Papuan justice issues.

A number of packages were delivered to the couple’s house in Jakarta on Sunday morning.

According to Amnesty International Indonesia, two of the packages exploded, scattering bits of paper and red paint in the garage.

Another package contained a message threatening to attack Koman and her supporters.

Amnesty International Indonesia’s executive director Usman Hamid described it as “an unconscionable attack that has frightened and traumatised two older people”.

“The authorities must immediately carry out a thorough, transparent, impartial and independent investigation of the incident and ensure the safety of Veronica Koman’s parents,” he said.

Koman, who has became a prominent voice in advocating for Papuan human rights since 2015, has been based in Australia since 2019.

UN plea for protection
That year, UN human rights experts issued a statement calling on the Indonesian government to protect the rights of Koman and other activists after she was subjected to online harassment, threats and abuse following her reporting on alleged human rights violations in Papua province.

The latest incident comes only weeks after two unidentified men on a motorcycle left an explosive package on the fence of Koman’s parents’ house.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said the incident marked “a serious escalation in the threats and intimidation that Koman and her family have faced for years due to her peaceful activism on Papua”.

“Indonesian human rights defenders should be able to express themselves even on sensitive subjects without having a target painted on their backs.”

As well as a police investigation, Harsono said Indonesia’s Witness and Victim Protection Agency should also assist Koman’s parents with protection and psychosocial support.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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Papua human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman has called for an independent inquiry into the attack on health workers in the Kiwirok district, Star Highlands, Papua, saying there are two versions of how the tragedy happened.

A healthcare worker, 22-year-old Gabriella Maelani, was killed during the attack by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organisation (TPNPB-OPM) resistance movement.

“There is one version which is clearly being shared a lot in the media. And there is a second version circulating among the Papuan people,” Koman told CNN Indonesia.

Koman said that the chronology of events which was being broadcast by most news media depicted the alleged brutality of the TPNPB-OPM during the attack.

In the second version alleged the attack was triggered when a person wearing a doctor’s uniform shot at the TPNPB, causing a shootout inside the healthcare building, Koman said.

She said that in Papua many TNI (Indonesian military) personnel held dual posts as teachers and doctors. She believed this caused a great deal of suspicion in Papua.

Nevertheless, she was saddened by the news that a healthcare worker died, although she said that the truth about the chronology of events must still be investigated.

Death of healthcare worker
Based on information she had received, the death of the healthcare worker was not because they were tortured by the TPNPB as alleged.

“The Papuan people’s version is that it’s not true that there was torture. Gabriella jumped [into a ravine] while escaping, she wasn’t thrown into the ravine by the OPM,” she said.

Koman called for an independent investigation. According to Koman, finding out which chronology was correct would influence several factors, particularly racism against the Papuan people.

“If for example the alleged barbaric actions are not true, it will influence the stigma and racism against the Papuan people. And that is very barbaric,” she said.

“Looking for examples of human rights issues, we can separate it. The ones adversely affected should be the OPM, not the ordinary Papuan people.

“In general with minority groups, including the Chinese, when one person does wrong, everyone is adversely affected. LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] for example, if a gay person does something, the whole community is adversely affected. So it’s important to straighten it out.”

Koman also said care was needed to be taken with the witness testimonies.

Information under duress
She questioned whether or not the witnesses provided information under duress.

“There would have been many soldiers around them … So they could have been pressured,” she said.

Earlier, the TPNPB-OPM admitted responsibility for attacking public facilities such as a community healthcare centre and school building in the Kiwirok district on September 13 and 14.

They claimed that the attack was a form of resistance demanding Papuan independence from Indonesia.

The Presidential Staff Office said that “armed criminal groups” (KKB) — as officials generally describe Papuan armed independence fighters — violated human rights law after the healthcare worker died during the attack on September 13.

Presidential Staff Deputy V Jaleswari Pramodhawardani said that the armed group had violated several laws such as the healthcare law, the nurses law, the hospital law and the healthcare quarantine law.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Veronica Koman Klaim Ada 2 Versi Penembakan Nakes di Papua”.

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Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson has been described as the go-to barrister for London’s rich and famous.

Standing by her clients WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and US actress Amber Heard in the full glare of international media, she is based at a top London law firm Doughty Street Chambers.

Originally from the small town of Berry, NSW, Jennifer Robinson also has a long-term commitment to independence for West Papua and works with human rights activist Benny Wenda.

Her latest mission is to improve educational opportunities for public school children. She recently founded the Acacia Awards, in association with the Public Education Foundation in Australia.

Prominent people who were educated in the public system will sponsor a student from their former school or area, providing mentorship and a small scholarship.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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The symbolic handover of money to Indonesia’s Finance Ministry Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) to repay scholarship funds received by human rights lawyer and activist Veronica Koman by the Papuan People’s Solidarity Team was not able to go ahead because the LPDP office was closed yesterday.

Initially, several Papua People’s Solidarity Team representatives – former political prisoners Ambrosius Mulait and Dano Tabuni, who were accompanied by Papua human rights lawyer Michael Himan – arrived at the LPDP office.

The Solidarity Team brought 3 million rupiah (US$200) in cash which was to be handed over along with a national red-and-white flag and a copy of a transfer receipt for the rest of the scholarship money.

Mulait and Tabuni could be seen wearing traditional Papuan costumes complete with penis gourds (koteka).

“I feel disappointed with the LPDP office, we had already sent a letter dated September 15. (The LPDP) did not respond to us when we arrived on the grounds that the office was closed,” Himan told journalists.

The team was not even able to enter the LPDP office because the front gates were also closed.

Security personnel guarding the building said that the office was not operating because of the Large Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) to curb the spread of the coronavirus which have been in force in Jakarta since Monday.

Money already paid back
Although the symbolic handover was unable to take place, Himan emphasised that the scholarship money amounting to 773,876,918 rupiah (US$52,760) which the LPDP demanded Koman pay back had already been returned through a bank transfer.

“This is a symbolic handover of 3 million rupiah from the Papuan mama-mama [traditional Papuan women traders] which they sent to us,” he said.

Himan said, however, that the group would continue waiting until the LPDP opened so they could hand over the money.

“We won’t use it because it’s from the little people. We will definitely return, when the office is open we will come back,” he said.

In August, Koman announced on her Twitter account that the LPDP had asked her to return her scholarship amounting to 773 million rupiah which she received in 2016 to study for her Master’s degree in Australia.

The demand for the return of the money was seen as a form of pressure by the Indonesian government so that she would stop talking about and advocating human rights issues in Papua.

Koman herself is currently a suspect on charges of incitement related to an attack on a Papuan student dormitory in the East Java city of Surabaya on August 16, 2019.

Denial by LPDP office
The LPDP management, however, denied that the request for the return of the money was related to her activities.

According to the LPDP’s system, Koman had failed to live up to her contract and obligation to return to Indonesia after completing her studies.

Koman did indeed return to Indonesia in 2018 but then flew back to Australia before graduating from her studies.

Koman graduated in July 2019 but only reported her graduation through the LPDP’s evaluation and monitoring system on September 23, 2019.

Based on this, the LPDP issued a letter from the executive director on the sanctions in the form of the return of the LPDP scholarship funds amounting to 773.87 million rupiah to Koman on October 24, 2019.

The first letter of claim was issued on November 22, 2019.

Papuan ‘people’s campaign’
In the letter detailing the sanctions and claim, the LPDP stated that on February 15, 2020, Koman agreed to an offer to return the scholarship funds by paying it off in 12 installments.

The first installment of 64.5 million rupiah was paid and the money deposited in a state account in April 2020.

In response to the demand for the money, Papuan Solidarity and international groups launched a fundraising campaign.

The fundraising campaign was referred to as an act of solidarity from the Papuan people to Koman who has been active in advocating human rights issues in the “land of the Bird of Paradise” – as West Papua is known.

There has yet to be any statement from the LPDP on the closure of their office.

Translated by James Balowski of IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Beasiswa Veronica Koman Dikembalikan, Kantor LPDP Tutup”.

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Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

A Filipino human rights lawyer has come away uninjured after unidentified motorcyclists fired gunshots into her car on the central Philippines island of Panay, reports The Sun Star.

According to the report, Criselda Heredia was with her daughter and a client when the attack happened last month.

“I was just ambushed. Two bullet holes… There are nine bullets recovered by the police. The police however suspect that there are more,” she said in a Facebook post.

READ MORE: Duterte accused of ‘creating conditions’ leading to martial law declaration

A member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Heredia is an anti-mining campaigner on the island and handles pro bono cases for farmers, human rights defenders and political prisoners.

In an official statement, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines condemned the “outright attack against Filipino human rights lawyers,” saying that it was part of an ongoing pattern of attacks.

“There is a clear pattern of vilification and harassments which then lead to political killings,” said Peter Murphy, chair of ICHRP’s Global Council.

“This only shows the continuing climate of impunity and the worsening human rights situation in the Philippines under President Duterte.”

According to NUPL, before the shooting Heredia had been receiving death threats from unidentified men visiting her office and was red-tagged in posters in a similar fashion to human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos, who was murdered on the nearby island of Negros last year.

The statement said that this attack on Heredia brings the total number of attacks on lawyers under the Duterte administration to 61, with 49 killed and 12 survivors.

It went on to emphasise the danger that Filipinos are facing on a regular basis.

“ICHRP reiterates its commitment to redouble our campaigns to alert the international community of the massive repression of the basic rights of the Filipino people that are continually taking place,” said Murphy.

“We are also calling on all human rights defenders and advocates to denounce the looming fascism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government and to support the Filipino people’s struggle for justice.”

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By Lian Buan in Manila

Opposition senatorial canidate Chel Diokno, a veteran human rights lawyer, won the endorsement of former justices of the Philippines Supreme Court and ombudsmen as the campaign draws to a close.

Former SC justices Antonio Nachura and Roberto Abad and former ombudsmen Conchita Carpio Morales and Simeon Marcelo threw their support behind Diokno in a news conference yesterday for Monday’s general election.

Nachura said Diokno showed promise for his work as a member of the prosecution of the Joseph Estrada impeachment trial more than a decade ago.

READ MORE: Rene Saguisag endorses Diokno, the ‘voice of human rights’ in Senate

“Noong nalaman kong kakandidato si Chel (When I found out Chel would run for senator), I enlisted myself as a volunteer for him because of his passion for justice and his passion for quality education,” Nachura said.

Nachura, who served as SC justice under the Gloria Arroyo administration, said: “Pagkakataon ko nang makapagbayad kahit kaunti para sa nagawa ni Chel sa ating lahat.” (This is my chance to repay him for what he has done for all of us.)

Diokno heads the 45-year-old Free Legal Assistance Group, which has handled clients such as relatives of those who died in the 1987 MV Doña Paz tragedy, witnesses in the kidnapping case against retired army major-general Jovito Palparan, and most recently, victims of drug war killings, indigenous groups against martial law in Mindanao, fishermen against commercial fishing, and fishermen against the neglect of the West Philippine Sea.

Diokno scored small wins recently, when the SC compelled the Duterte administration to publicly release tens of thousands of drug war documents, and when the High Court issued a writ of kalikasan for the fishermen who complained against government neglect in the Spratly territories.

Founding dean
Diokno is also the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law.

“He worked with me, when the Supreme Court invited him to help us in the revision of the rules of civil procedure and he did fine work in his assignment,” said Abad, whose first work out of law school was for Diokno’s father, former senator Jose W. Diokno.

“We have a wonderful guy here, who can really serve our country more than many of our candidates who may be popular because they’re exposed to media,” said Abad.

Marcelo told reporters he has long promised not to be involved in politics after his term as ombudsman, but that supporting Diokno in his campaign was a chance he could not pass up.

“Kilalang-kilala siya bilang abogado na tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao at ating mga naaaping kababayan, mga mahihirap,” said Marcelo.

(He is well known as a lawyer who defends human rights of poor and oppressed Filipinos.)

Morales, who has been shying away from political statements since retiring as ombudsman in 2018, did not speak but told reporters she supports Diokno.

Uphill battle
Before the press conference, Morales said that while Diokno’s candidacy may be an uphill battle, “everything is possible”.

Far Eastern University Institute of Law dean Mel Sta Maria and Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law dean Sol Mawis also endorsed Diokno.

“Mahal ni Chel higit sa lahat ang batas. Pero mas may mahal pa siya sa batas – ang katarungan,” Mawis said. (Chel loves the law most of all. But more than the law, what he loves is justice.)

Asia Pacific Report republishes Rappler articles in collaboration.

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